first let's work together on a bipartisan basis to try to avoid this fiscal cliff. if we cannot, let's work as quickly as we can to get back on our feet on a bipartisan basis and come up with an agreement that moves our economy forward. finally, let's deal with destruction and long-term entitlement reform. that is part of our obligation. mr. president, i spoke to our senate democratic caucus a little earlier today about the terrible problems we face in illinois with one of the lowest credit ratings in the nation, primarily because our pension systems are underfunded. for more than four decades, republican and democratic governors have ignored the challenge as have many leaders in our general assembly, and now the responsibility falls on this generation of leaders to try to deal with a vexing situation where it would take literally one-third of our state budget to meet the unfunded liabilities of our pension systems. we cannot let that happen at the federal level. whether it's social security or medicare, we need to make the thoughtful choices, the thoughtful advance